Home
by Mayon-Egg
Summary: Home is never an easy place to go back to after months of abandonment. Artemis fears the reactions of the people she loves and trusts most after spending months being dead to the world.


_Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse...but you take a boat in the air you don't love...she'll shake you off just as sure as the turn of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down...tells you she's hurting before she keels. Makes her a home. -Mal Reynolds Serenity._

**June 19th : 12:00**

The sun was high in the noon sky, warming the bustling city below. People went about their everyday lives, cars travelled along the streets, people ate lunch at restaurants with friends, children played in the school playgrounds laughing with joy. The average lives of citizens went on without the knowledge that the world was in danger, that Earth was hurtling on a path of destruction that man and alien alike had set it on, they didn't know that only a handful of people on Earth had the power to save each and every average citizen that called the Third Planet 'Home'. They didn't know that two of those very people were standing at the door of an apartment on one of the top floors of a large apartment building. One had long blonde hair tied back, the other a red head; hair neatly trimmed and both were waiting.

Artemis Crock stood at the door with her hand raised mere inches away from it, ready to knock, while Wally West calmly waited for her to be ready to knock; knowing she needed time. Deep breath after deep breath Artemis stood; unable to move. Never in all the years they had known each other had Wally seen her so petrified. He'd seen her fearlessly face aliens, robots, serial killers and even seen her stare down Batman without backing down. But there she stood still as stone, breathing deeply fighting off a panic attack.

"Artemis." He whispered while reaching for her left hand which hung limply at her side. "Babe, it's okay." She shook her head before muttering back to him.

"No, it's not...what if..."

"Babe, it'll be fine." He cut her off; knowing what she was going to say, having discussed her fears and worries at length only hours before

"But what am I going to say?" Wally squeezed her hand comfortingly in his; hoping it would calm her down. It didn't work. "How am I going to explain...well...everything? Wally. What do I do?" She turned to face him fear evident in her grey eyes. Wally softly kissed her before whispering to her.

"Everything. Just everything, from start to finish. Don't leave anything out. Simple." He stood grinning at her hoping he had comforted her. Artemis smiled lovingly at him before taking in a deep breath, turning to the front door and knocking.

For what felt like an eternity they both stood at the door silently waiting for someone to answer. With each passing moment Artemis got more nervous and Wally got more convinced she was going to bolt. Wally lifted his hand to knock again but before his hand touched the wood he heard a lock click, opening it. Artemis quickly moved slightly behind his shoulder making Wally chuckle at her attempt to shield herself from the verbal attack she was sure she was about to get. Wally turned to the opening door to greet the person behind it. Wally smiled brightly at the woman standing before him. "Hey Dinah."

Dinah Laurel Lance; aka Black Canary, stood at the open doorway smiling a warm, sad smile at Wally. "Wally. Hi. How are you?" She had a look in her blue eyes that Wally had gotten too used to over the last few months, he was glad to know that never again would he see that _look _directed at him. She was back, she was alive and he wanted the world to know, he wanted to shout and cheer. He wanted to spend the rest of his life knowing that she was safe and protected. He never wanted to loose her again. He had never been happier in his life.

"I'm good Dinah, actually. Better then good." He said excitedly. The short blonde looked up at him like he had gone insane, understandably, Dinah had visited him every couple of days after Artemis had died; bringing him food and even cleaning his apartment once and everytime he had acted as depressed as he could, well...he hadn't had to act too hard. "We actually came to tell you and Ollie something." Her expression became filled with confusion and worry at his statement.

"We?" Her eyes roaming his face clearly looking for something.

"Yeah, 'we'." Wally turned his head to glance at Artemis over his shoulder, she stood looking at him for a heart beat before squaring her shoulders and moving around his body so that she could be seen by the older woman at the door.

"Hey Di." Her voice was soft and oddly meek. She was terrified. Afraid of how someone she admired and respected was going to react to what she did. She lied and made Wally lie to people they both called family and friends. Artemis knew it would hurt some of the people she loved when she 'died' but she had to do it, Kaldur needed help, her friend needed help. Who was she to deny it?

Black Canary stood staring at the supposedly dead college student, hands clutching the door and door frame to keep herself up, she seemed to not be breathing. Wally had a strange image flash through his mind of Dinah, Black Canary, who was easily one of the toughest, strongest women he knew faint. He started to move towards her instinctively just in case she did. Moments passed and Dinah just stood staring before one word left her mouth, one word filled with shock, disbelief and horror.

"Art...Artemis?" Her voice was barely a whisper she began to move outside from the doorway, towards the pair.

"I'm sorry." Artemis blurted out. "I know this must be, you know, a shock. Wow, that was the understatement of the year, huh?" She laughed awkwardly "Anyway, basically, I faked my death to help with an undercover op that Dick organised. And well...here I am." While Artemis talked Dinah had closed the gap between them, standing right in front of her. The older hero placed her hand on Artemis' cheek, seeming worried she would disappear before her eyes. Tears filled Dinah's eyes as she looked at her.

"You're really..." She cut herself off as she embraced Artemis in a fierce hug. The women held each other for moments before a loud voice tore them apart.

"Dinah? Who's at the door, Pretty Bird?" Wally looked at Dinah when she didn't answer Ollie straight away and just continued to stare at Artemis, he wasn't sure whether she was just ignoring her husband or if she was too caught up in seeing her lost family member again that she didn't hear him. "Dinah? Dinah!?" Wally watched as Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, ran through the hallway to the door he stood at, panic evident in his face, which disappeared quickly when he saw Wally. Heaving a sigh of relief Ollie took a sip out of the brandy glass in his hand, his face turning back into the easy going billionaire that Wally had known for half his life. "Dinah you almost gave me a heart attack, I thought something..." As he was talking Dinah turned to face him revealing Artemis to him. The sound of glass shattering filled the silent room. "God...Artemis? It can't be." Wally had never seen Oliver so pained, at the funeral they had had for Artemis he had been wearing sunglasses, stood away from most of the people there and hadn't spoken a word. After the ceremony he had seen Ollie place a tulip on the coffin before walking to the tombstone and brushing it with his hand. Wally had tried his hardest to avoid most people while Artemis was undercover, afraid that he would slip up; most of the time people accepted it knowing he needed space, he only really saw Paula most of the time, he couldn't leave the woman who had become like family to him to grieve alone. Ollie was the only person he purposely avoided, Paula he would help out, whether it be cook, buy food for, go shopping with or even fix broken parts of her apartment, they always found ways to distract themselves. Oliver, Wally knew, took his pain out in ways that Wally refused to witness; he could remember every time Dick had told him about how Roy needed to take a drunk Oliver home after a long night at the local bar, or how Dinah had to stop him from almost beating a criminal half to death. Apart from his own reunion with Artemis he was most excited for Ollie to see her again, for Ollie to finally be Ollie again.

Artemis froze when she saw Oliver. Out of all the reunions she had to have she dreaded this one the most. The archer before her had become her father in all ways that mattered, Ollie had taught her, cared for her, comforted her when he could and most of all had been there for her no matter what. She loved him. He was everything a father should be to his daughter. And how had she repaid everything he did for her, by pretending to die, by putting him through loosing another protege. How was she to make up for that? "Heya' there Ollie." Oliver stood frozen for barely a heartbeat before moving swiftly towards Artemis, practically shoving Dinah out of the way to throw himself onto her. Oliver held onto Artemis for a solid minute, or what seemed like a minute, before Artemis spoke again. "Ollie...can't...breathe." Ollie shook his head, refusing to let go. "Ollie, seriously...you gotta let...go. Please." With that Ollie moved back slightly to look at her, keeping his hands on her shoulders.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice filled with awe and shock.

Artemis laughed nervously. "It's a long story."

"Well, give me the short version."

"I faked my death for a mission." Oliver's face changed with Artemis' words, taking on a far more serious look, one that Wally ha rarely seen on the archer's face. Wally could see his hands gripping her arms tighter almost turning white at the pressure.

"Don't you ever do that again Artemis. Ever."

"Ollie." Artemis sighed

"Promise me." his blue eyes stared into her grey pleadingly. A heartbeat passed as both stood quietly staring at each other before Artemis smiled softly at him.

"Okay Ollie, I promise. I promise I won't fake my death again."

"Good." Ollie grinned his Oliver Queen grin. "Now that that is settled, lets have lunch. What'd you say? Italian? Chinese? Pizza? You name it, we'll eat it." He let go of Artemis moving to Dinah and slinging his arm around her shoulder towing her towards the kitchen. "Come on Pretty Bird, lets find something we'll enjoy." Wally laughed at the older man's antics before starting to move towards the doorway. However he was stopped by a small hand on his chest, Artemis stood before him her hand over his heart preventing him to move while blocking his path ahead.

She smiled lovingly at him and moved forward pressing her lips to his for a moment. "Thank you." she said with sincerity.

"For what?"

"For everything. Bringing me here. Making sure I didn't run. Waiting. For...for being just so Wally." she laughed heartedly causing Wally to laugh with her.

"Anytime Babe, it's what I'm here for. Like I said last night; 'I'm not going anywhere'. Promise."

Artemis smiled lovingly at the the red haired man before her. After the summit meeting the night before they had gone home and made up for lost time, leading Wally to swear that they would never part again; that they would spend the next fifty years waking up to each other and eventually grow old together. Wally lead Artemis into the house as she pondered the future ahead once the mess with the Reach and the Light was over it could truly start; school, marriage, settling down didn't seem as scary as it had once before. She was even looking forward to the calm civilian life. Life was starting to be good again. She was home and they were together again, that's all that mattered.

"I know, Wally."


End file.
